Sinicization of textbooks panned

TERMS OF EDUCATION:Civic groups and academics urged the MOE to uphold its rejection of textbooks that say ‘Japanese occupation’ as it is a China-centric distortion

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

The civic groups and historians said ministry Secretary-General Wang Tsuo-tai (王作台) was to blame for allowing this “falsification” of history.

Wang earlier this year said that Taiwan’s history should be incorporated as part of China’s history in the curriculum for high schools and recommended the review committee consider allowing both “the Japan-governed period” and “the Japanese occupation period” to be used in textbooks.

Pro-unification academics citing bloodline and culture as the reason Taiwan’s history should be part of China’s history “does not make sense at all,” Lee said.

“Americans would never tell you that their history is part of British history because they share the same heritage. Singaporeans would never agree that their history is part of Chinese history because they come from the same ethnic group,” he added.